Wednesday, June 29, 2005

The bad news for Arnold Schwarzenegger keeps on coming. A few weeks ago it was that his statewide approval rating had plummeted. Now it turns out that Californians want a new Governor:

In a startling reversal of public opinion, 57percent of the state's registered voters wouldnot support Schwarzenegger's re-election nextyear, up from 42 percent in a February poll.Those who would vote to return him toSacramento tumbled from 56 percent to39 percent.

By a vote of 158-133, the Canadian Parliament passed the plurality Government's same-sex marriage legislation, making Canada the 3rd country in the world (after Belgium and The Netherlands) where gays and lesbians can marry each other and have identical rights to heterosexuals.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Ladies' Quarterfinal Day is now over. The semifinalists are Mauresmo versus Davenport and Sharapova versus Venus Williams.

PREDICTIONSMauresmo (3) vs Davenport (1). I think that this will go three sets. Mauresmo has been playing great grass-court tennis all tournament long but she hasn't faced one of the "big babes" with their awesome hitting power, and Davenport is the biggest of them all. Once Mauresmo loses the first set she will relax and play her game, however once the third set starts she'll tighten up. Davenport will make it to her second Grand Slam final of the year.

Sharapova (2) vs V. Williams (14). I'd like to believe that Venus can win this match, but I think she might have peaked in the quarterfinal against Mary Pierce. (She had only 14 unforced errors to 22 winners, and served at 84%!) Maybe she watched the super slow motion deconstruction of her serve on television and has finally taken some advice. It would be great if both players played to their full potential in the match. Sharapova, in 3 very close sets.

Sunday, June 26, 2005

Monday is the 4th Round at Wimbledon. There are 16 women left in the tournament, with a large number of surprising survivors (Myskina, Dementieva, Pierce and Venus) and few early exits (Henin-Hardenne).

My previous prediction of a Serena-Sharapova semifinal at this year's Wimbledon can no longer come true: Serena Williams lost 6-3, 7-6(4) on Saturday to a fellow American, 30-year old, 85th world-ranked Jill Craybas.

But this upset gives her sister Venus Williams an excellent chance to get a quarterfinal match with the resurgent Mary Pierce, who last month made it to the French Open final. If Venus gets past that match, she will have a semifinal encounter with the "Golden Girl" Maria Sharapova who just has to get past Nathalie Dechy and Nadia Petrova.

In the other half of the draw Lindsay Davenport and Kim Clijsters are duking it out in what should be the best match of the tournament for a quarterfinal opportunity against Svetlana Kuznetsova. I remain firm in my prediction that Clijsters will come through both of those matches, albeit in 3 sets. Clijsters will then meet Mauresmo (who theoretically should have no problem defeating either Dementieva or Myskina on grass) in the other semi-final.

If Clijsters does not make it through her half of the draw, I think Sharapova will most likely repeat as Wimbledon champion. Clijsters has a 3-0 record against her, and has beaten Sharapova already this year in a final (to win the NASDAQ-100 in Miami).

UPDATE 9pm 06/26/05 It should be noted that if Davenport beats Clijsters then she has a very good chance of making it to her second Grand Slam final of 2005, and she should have a mental edge against the defending champion, who she almost beat last year in the semis, and who she whipped 6-0, 6-0 at the Pacific Life tournament in March

Today the most accurate poll in California politics shows that Arnold's political fortunes are starting to resemble Gray Davis. His approval/disapproval rating is now at 37/53 (down from 53/35 in February 2005) with a margin of error of 3.2%.

On the men's side 6'10" Ivo Karlovic lost after blasting 51 aces, so Federer will not be beating him in the final. I don't know why, I just don't think that Roddick will make it through his half of the draw (even though it is easier than Federer's).

Sunday, June 19, 2005

The first section of the draw is sprinkled with numerous players vying for this semi-final slot. Lindsay Davenport (Current #1 and 1999 Champion), Kim Clijsters, Svetlana Kuznetsova (current US Open titleholder) and Elena Dementieva. I predict that Kuznetsova and Clijsters will battle it out for the semi-final spot against Amelie Mauresmo (who has a pretty dreamy draw in the second section) in the first semi-final.

The third section of the draw is the toughest, with Justine Henin-Hardenne (former #1 and the current hottest player on the women's tour), Serena Williams (2002 and 2003 Wimbledon Champion and current Australian Open titleholder), Venus Williams (2000 and 2001 Champion, set to meet Serena in the 4th Round).I predict that Serena will come through this section of the draw to meet defending Champion Maria Sharapova in the second women's semi-final.

One Percent of Republican Legislators in the States And Washington are African-American or Hispanic

Newspaper Ads Point to Retro Republican Reality

The uninformed viewer watching TV coverage of this week's Republican national convention in New York might come away thinking that the President's party is built upon a solid commitment to inclusion of racial minorities. Once again, as it does every four years, the Republican Party is trying to portray itself as a 'big tent,' with room for every American.

But a new book about America's political divisions notes that the 99 percent of all Republican legislators across the country and in Congress are white. The national Republican Party, whose base is in the South, the Plains and the Mountain states, looks to white men as its power base and source of leadership. Even when Republican states have significant minority populations, the elected Republican representatives rarely are drawn from those communities.

The Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America, a new look at political divisions in America by educator-entrepreneur Dr. John Sperling, calls those states 'Retro America,' and notes: 'Its whiteness and maleness are mirrored in the Republican Party.'

Of 3,643 Republicans serving in the state legislatures, only 44 are minorities, or 1.2 percent. In the Congress, with 274 of the 535 elected senators and representatives Republican, only five are minorities - three Cuban Americans from Florida, a Mexican American from Texas and a Native American senator originally elected as a Democrat. [NOTE FROM JOHN: That means the GOP has elected ZERO blacks to Congress.]

'President Bush's home state leads the way. Texas, with a minority population of 47 percent, has 106 Republicans in the state legislature, but there are 0 blacks and 0 Hispanics among them,' Sperling writes. 'No major corporation doing business with the government could be so white without being subject to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) action!'

An advertisement appearing in the New York Times and Washington Post this week describes this 'Retro Republican Reality.' For more information and to download chapters of the Sperling book, go to http://www.retrovsmetro.org/. Print editions of The Great Divide are on sale exclusively at amazon.com/greatdivide.

There are a handful of gay professional athletes – David Kopay, Billy Bean,Esera Tuaolo – who came out after their careers ended. There are a number oftalented gay collegiate athletes, some who play individual sports at theDivision I level (such as California gymnast Graham Ackerman), others from teamsports at the Division II and III levels.

But Andrew Goldstein, according to those who document these things, is themost accomplished male, team-sport athlete in North America to be openly gayduring his playing career.

As Schwarzenegger positions himself for re-election in 2006 and considers his legacy, appointing a member of the California Supreme Court in his first term will be a major part of it. (State Supreme Court appointees do not come up that often. Gray Davis only got one, Carlos Moreno, in his 5 years serving as Governor.) African American voters will notice if the 'black seat' held by Janice Rogers Brown is filled by someone who does not enhance the diversity of the Court.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Rafael Nadal (Spain) and Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium), two natural, experienced clay court players won the 2005 French Open titles. They both dominated the clay court season with no defeats; Nadal won24 matches in a row, and Henin-Hardenne 25. It was Nadal's first grand slam victory (matching Mats Wilander's feat of winning theFrench Open on the first try) and Henin-Hardenne's fourth (2003 French, 2003 US Open, 2004 Australian, 2005 French) matching Venus Williams four.

Nadal def. Puerta 6-7(3),6-3, 6-1, 7-5. This was asurprisingly good match. Puerta is a good player butNadal is just an insanely good offensively defensiveplayer on clay. They both play left-handed thoughNadal does "everything else" with his right hand.Puerta had 3 set points in the 4th set to even the match,which would have been his 3rd consecutive 5-set matchin the tournament.Henin-Hardenne def. Pierce 6-1, 6-1. After beingunable to miss in her demolition of World No. 1Lindsay Davenport in the quarters, Mary Piercesimply ran out of gas in front of her Galliccompatriots and was never really able to imposeher game upon the impressive Belgian.

Nadal is now ranked #3 in the world, behind Federer(1) and Safin(2). Henin-Hardene is #7, behind Davenport, Sharapova, Mauresmo, Serena Williams, Kuznetsova and Dementieva.Wimbledon starts in two weeks on June 20th!

Thursday, June 02, 2005

California's gay marriage bill (AB 19--The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act) failed to pass the Assembly in its first floor vote yesterday (35-37) and in a reconsideration early Thursday morning it failed again (37-35). It needs 41 votes in the 80 member California State Assembly, which contains 48 Democrats (1 of whom is in the hospital with a brain tumor--though he said he woud vote for the bill if he could). In order to remain alive, the bill must pass the Assembly before adjournment on Friday June 3. Contact Equality California today to find out how you can assist in ending marriae discrimination in California!

UPDATE: The Compassionate Choices Act (AB 654) was catapulted into the more liberal State Senate through a legislative maneuver called a "gut and amend" which bypasses tomorrow's June 3 crossover deadline which AB 19 still faces. It's not immediately clear to me why Speaker Fabian Nunez and other Democratic Asembly leaders (who are co-sponsors) of Leno's marriage bill don't try the same maneuver to keep the marriage bill alive. Perhaps one can not do this to a bill once it has had a floor vote in one house?

President Obama!

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